When You Say Nothing At All
by rororogers
Summary: Valentine's Day sucks when you have no one to share it with, but maybe Bella isn't misreading the signs that one of her best friends is sending her. Maybe he's telling her he loves her without saying a word.


**_Disclaimer: Nope don't own. Although I wished I own any one of the wolves but especially Embry, Paul, and Jake._**

_A/N: AU/AH. Bella and the boys are all the same age, Bella never left Forks with Renee and she never dated Edward so no Zombie Bella._

My name is Isabella Swan but I prefer Bella. I'm seventeen years old and have lived in the rainy small town of Forks Washington my whole life. My father Charlie is the chief of Police and has raised me on his own since my scatterbrained mother left because she couldn't handle the small town life. I may go to the local high school but my best friends live and attend school in the local Quileute Indian Reservation called La Push.

Jacob Black, Quill Altera, and Embry Call have been my best friends since I was knee high to a grass hopper. I have always thought of them as nothing but my friends maybe even brothers. But lately something has changed. They have changed. They are no longer the gangly teenage boys that I know and love. Now they are fucking hot. Sex on legs as Jessica Stanley referred to them as, I have to agree. The problem is they think of me as a sister, at least I think they do. They are all so different from each other.

Quill is the joker of the group. He thinks he is God's gift to women and is a natural born flirt. He flirts with me all the time but I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean anything by it. Besides as hot as Quill is I still only think of him as a brother … most of the time.

Then there is Jake. I often refer to Jake as my personal sun. He's always smiling and can make me smile just by being his self. I know Jake loves me. I mean he is in love with me. And as much as I wish I could return his feelings, I mean I know our dads would love for us to end up together I just don't feel the same way. Jake is my best friend in the whole world, he is the brother I've always wanted. And that is all he will ever be.

Now Embry, Embry is something else entirely. I swear I have tried to continue to think of him as nothing but a friend but ever since I turned fifteen I've been crushing on him. Hell who am I kidding I fucking love that boy. Only problem is I have no idea how he feels about me. Embry is the quiet one of our group. He's super smart, incredible sweet, and is just as bashful as I am. He is the only other person I know that can turn red at the drop of a hat like me. Embry has never been confident when it comes to girls; in fact I'm the only girl I've ever seen him talk to. I wish I knew if he saw me as anything more than a sister and friend.

I mean sometimes I think he does care for me the same way I do him. It's the look that is in his eyes sometimes it screams that he will never leave me. The way he smiles tells me he needs me. The few occasions when his hand grazes mine I swear he is telling me he'll catch me if I ever fall. But is that all just wishful thinking on my part?

My friend Angela Webber, who has met my boys, says it's not. She says that when Embry thinks nobody is watching he never takes his eyes off of me. She says she can see it in his face that he loves me. Again I don't know if that is true or if we are both just hopeless romantics at heart.

I'm scared to say anything to him though; I don't want to risk losing a lifetime friendship over my feelings for him. His friendship is too important, all of their friendship is too important. But then maybe Embry is just as scared as I am, plus there is the bro code. Jake claims me as his I know so maybe Embry does care for me but won't act on it because of Jake, I don't know but I sure as hell wish I did.

Oh and did I forget to mention that today is a day I absolutely loathe with a passion. Yup that's right it's Valentine's Day, the day of love. Bullshit it's nothing but a way for business and corporations to make money off of sappy people who think a box of chocolates and roses scream love and devotion. Yeah right girls guys only buy those things because they think they can get into our pants if they give us these gifts. Of course I've never actually gotten anything for Valentine's Day so maybe that has something to do with it.

It would be ok if today also wasn't a school day but no I am not that lucky. No I get to spend the entire day watching all the lovey dovey couples making goo goo eyes at each other and whispering little endearments while they make plans or confirm their plans for tonight. You wanna know what I'm doing? I'm spending the night sitting on my living room couch with a carton of ben and jerry's watching whatever the hell sporting game is on with Charlie. Yeah my life sucks sometimes. Normal on a Friday night I'd be hanging with my boys but since its Valentine's Day I'm sure they have plans with their girl of the week or whatever. I refuse to think about Embry maybe spending this day of 'love' with any girl but me.

The bell finally rings to release me from this hell known as high school for the day. I slowly make my way to the parking lot and my behemoth of a truck to go home and mope. But of course things never are that easy for me. No there has to be a traffic jam at the top of the steps. Something or someone is making an impression on the forks' high school population. I hear several girls whispering things like, 'damn he's hot' and 'do you think he'd go out with me' to things like 'I'd fuck him in a heartbeat'. I'm pretty sure Lauren said that one.

I finally managed to push my way through the crowd to come to a complete stop. I'm pretty sure my brain quit working the moment I spotted him standing at the bottom of the steps in his tight fitting tee shirt that showed off his six pack abs. he was leaning against one of the motorbikes that Jake had fixed up over the summer. He looked up and saw me, his beautiful brown eyes locking with mine. A smile graced the corner of his lips as he stood up straight to his full height. I made my way down the steps to stand right in front of him.

"Embry what are you doing here?" I asked. I could hear the whispering continue. The jealous tones evident. I knew what they were thinking, how the hell did I know this god.

Embry just smiled and reached into his front pocket to pull out a small draw string bag. "I know you don't like presents Bells but …" he said as he pulled from the small bag a leather bracelet.

I've seen several girls on the res wearing similar bracelets but I wasn't sure of the meanings behind them. "It's beautiful Em." I said looking at it.

"I made it special just for you; can I put it on you?" Embry asked blushing.

I wasn't surprised he was blushing; we had the whole attention of the school. I'm pretty sure my cheeks were just as red. I nodded and bit my lower lip and held out my right arm for him.

"Left arm please." Embry whispered, his eyes silently pleading with me, trying to tell me something.

I held out my left wrist for him and he smiled as he tied the leather bracelet around my wrist. "Thank you Em I love it."

Embry grin and then shifted on his feet nervously, "do you know what this bracelet means Bells?"

"It's a friendship bracelet right?" I asked, praying that it was so much more than that.

"Only if it was on your right wrist." He whispered biting on his lower lip.

I gasped and looked back up at him. "Em?"

"It's more of a promise bracelet … I love you Bella. I always have, I want you to be mine Valentine today and always." Embry whispered.

My eyes got huge as the whispers around us got louder. Holy shit did Embry just kinda propose to me? Embry was shifting more nervously. "You can put it on your right wrist if you'd rather Bells, I mean I know I just kinda sprung this on you but I thought you felt the same. If you don't that's fine, I don't want this to ruin our friendship."

I put my fingers over his mouth shushing him to end his rant. "Embry shut up and kiss me."

Embry grinned as he placed his hands on my hips and pulled me against his body, my arms went around his neck as he lowered his mouth to mine. I literally went weak in the knees at that kiss. Sure I've kissed guys before but never in my entire life would I have imagined it could feel that way. It was like the whole world ceased to exist. All that matter was him; he was the only thing holding me to the earth at that moment. It was heaven on earth.

When the catcalls and wolf whistles finally broke through to our senses we pulled away from each other both of us flushing profusely. "Does this mean what I think it does Bells?" Embry asked hopefully.

"I love you Em always have always well." I whispered before pressing my lips to his again in a quick kiss.

"Come on babe lets go." Embry said as he handed me a helmet and helping me onto the back of the bike. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned against his solid back as he started the bike. My eyes caught Angela's and she was grinning ear to ear. I gave a contented sigh as we pulled out of the school lot and headed for the res.

I just enjoyed the ride the whole way. When we finally came to a stop I realized that Embry had taken me to the cliffs. He helped me off the back of the bike, his hand resting on the small of my back as he led the way to the top of the cliffs where a picnic had been set up.

We spent the afternoon on the cliff enjoying our picnic and each other's company. We didn't talk much. We didn't need to. I could hear everything he had to tell me without any words. Through his actions he spoke directly to my heart. Embry loved me, I had been right all along when I thought he cared for me as more than a friend and sister. As the moon rose Embry turned on the small radio he had brought to the cliff. Pulling me to my feet he danced with me under the moonlight. Now I'm not much of a dancer considering how klutzy I am but I knew that I had nothing to fear, Embry would never let me fall and if I did he'd catch me.

I guess Valentine's Day isn't so bad after all. I still don't need any flowers or chocolates. I have something even better. I have my Embry.


End file.
